Palm Beach, Fla. (CBS TAMPA) – The Florida State Board of
Education passed a plan that sets goals for students in math and reading based
upon their race.

On Tuesday, the board passed a revised strategic plan that
says that by 2018, it wants 90 percent of Asian students, 88 percent of white
students, 81 percent of Hispanics and 74 percent of black students to be
reading at or above grade level. For math, the goals are 92 percent of Asian
kids to be proficient, whites at 86 percent, Hispanics at 80 percent and blacks
at 74 percent. It also measures by other groupings, such as poverty and
disabilities, reported the Palm Beach Post.

The plan has infuriated many community activists in Palm Beach
County and across the state.

“To expect less from one demographic and more from another
is just a little off-base,” Juan Lopez, magnet coordinator at John F. Kennedy
Middle School in Riviera Beach, told the Palm Beach Post.

JFK Middle has a black student population of about 88
percent.

“Our kids, although they come from different socioeconomic
backgrounds, they still have the ability to learn,” Lopez said. “To dumb down
the expectations for one group, that seems a little unfair.”

Others in the community agreed with Lopez’s assessment. But
the Florida Department of Education said the goals recognize that not every
group is starting from the same point and are meant to be ambitious but
realistic.

As an example, the percentage of white students scoring at
or above grade level (as measured by whether they scored a 3 or higher on the
reading FCAT) was 69 percent in 2011-2012, according to the state. For black
students, it was 38 percent, and for Hispanics, it was 53 percent.

In addition, State Board of Education Chairwoman Kathleen
Shanahan said that setting goals for different subgroups was needed to comply
with terms of a waiver that Florida and 32 other states have from some
provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. These waivers were used to
make the states independent from some federal regulations.

“We have set a very high goal for all students to reach in
Florida,” Shanahan said.

But Palm Beach County School Board vice-chairwoman Debra
Robinson isn’t buying the rationale.

“I’m somewhere between complete and utter disgust and anger
and disappointment with humanity,” Robinson told the Post. She said she has
been receiving complaints from upset black and Hispanic parents since the state
board took its action this week.

Robinson called the state board’s actions essentially
“proclaiming racism” and said she wants Palm Beach County to continue to
educate every child with the same expectations, regardless of race

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